With more than two million page views and more than 4,500 items, this blog provides news and commentary on public policy, business and economic issues related to the $3 billion California stem cell agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM). David Jensen, a retired California newsman, has published this blog since January 2005. His email address is djensen@californiastemcellreport.com.

Monday, September 09, 2013

The old saying has it that you can tell the pioneers
by the arrows in their backs.

Tell that to Paul Knoepfler, the UC Davis stem cell
researcher who has been something of a pioneer in stem cell blogging and still
is -- at least given that almost no other stem cell researcher blogs both as a researcher
and patient advocate in addition to taking on wide-ranging business and public policy
issues.

Knoepfler does have a few arrows in his back, some
from enterprises that are less than happy with his vieww of their conduct and
some from within the stem cell research community itself. But overall he has
found the experience beneficial and rewarding.

In an article in Nature Medicine Sept. 6, Knoepfler
is recruiting more researchers for the stem cell blog brigade. To encourage
them, he recounts his experiences and costs (such as $1,500 for his special
domain name, although a normal domain name can be had for virtually no cost). His
experiences include working late at night and on weekends. We can testify that
the father of three puts in the hours, just based on the nature of the
blog content and frequency of posting.

Knoepfler continues his pitch in his piece in
Nature, which is read primarily by researchers,

“To all this a reader might say, ‘Okay, this all sounds well and good, but
you can't have your cake and eat it, too! Your science must have suffered from
all this.’ In fact, I have lost some sleep, but I have not seen much in the way
of negative scientific consequences. My lab has done very well during the past
three years, and we have published many important papers, including one earlier
this year that demonstrated the molecular similarities between induced
pluripotency in stem cells and oncogenic transformation in cancer cells.
I even secured tenure during this time.

“Reflecting on my personal transformation to the role of scientist−advocate,
I have come to notice many tangible positive outcomes. In a general sense, my
work has served to build bridges and stimulate new dialogue between industry
and academia in the stem cell field. At the same time, I couple these efforts
to accountability. Today, if someone does an Internet search for 'stem cell
blog', that person will find my site, with all its educational outreach
resources, at the top of the results list. A few years ago, the same search
would mostly have yielded sites published by opponents of stem cell research or
proponents of sketchy, for-profit endeavors to attract stem cell 'tourism'. I
have also interacted with more than 100 patients and caregivers, helping them
make more educated and, I believe, safer, stem cell−related medical decisions
with their physicians.”

Knoepfler’s bottom line pitch? Any scientist can!

As he put it:

“Any scientist can, and should, do it. It is only logical that scientists
would adapt to today's reality—a funding-poor environment that is nonetheless
rich with opportunities for communication—by becoming advocates. I predict that
any scientist who devotes a tiny bit of time to advocacy endeavors will find
that the payoff is greatly multiplied. I will even help. Drop me an e-mail. Or
better yet, leave a comment on my blog or message me on Twitter. Let's get the
conversation going.”

About Me

The California Stem Cell Report is the only nongovernmental website devoted solely to the $3 billion California stem cell agency. The report is published by David Jensen, who worked for 22 years for The Sacramento Bee in a variety of editing positions, including executive business editor and special projects editor. He was the primary editor on the 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winning series, "The Monkey Wars" by Deborah Blum, which dealt with opposition to research on primates. Jensen served as a press aide in the 1974 campaign and first administration of Gov. Jerry Brown. (Time served: two years and one week.) He writes from his sailboat on the west coast of Mexico with occasional visits to land. Jensen began writing about the stem cell agency in 2005, noting that it is an unprecedented effort that uniquely combines big science, big business, big academia, big politics, religion, ethics and morality as well as life and death. The California Stem Cell Report has been identified as one of the best stem cell sites on the Internet. Its readership includes the media (both mainstream and science), a wide range of academic/research institutions globally, the NIH and California policy makers.